


3 PM

by asherall



Category: Nocturnal Academy Series - Ethan Somerville
Genre: Gen, Random & Short, So do I, alice needs to sleep, studying for finals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:47:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 548
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26185183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asherall/pseuds/asherall
Summary: loosely based on the prompt "it’s 3 (pm) and i’m still in the library studying for finals and i’m losing my grip on reality and i think i just saw a ghost."
Relationships: Icarus Abbacus & Alice Dibble
Kudos: 2





	3 PM

“What’s that?”

There’s someone pacing in the library. Someone that wasn’t there the last time I was fully awake. It’s the week before finals, and all I can think about is revising. There were a few books from the library that looked like they would be useful . . . seven? hours ago. It’s 3 PM, though. Milly, Toby, and Carla had all started dozing off (and eventually falling asleep) by 11 AM. Not sure what time I went off, though. Most people left by 11:30. 

There’s more footsteps. Getting closer now.

_ Andrew Jackson was a human mage who claimed responsibility for the progressivism of vampires. These vampires were led by Dorothea Dix, who _

“Alice?”

There’s only one person that raspy voice could belong to (though he was rarely that quiet). “Professor?”

“World History’s a waste of your time.”

I sighed. “Well, Mr. Incolere doesn’t think so.”

“Nobody else is in the library.”

“I see four other people here.”

“You shouldn’t be here this late.”

“I need to be here this late. Just to finish these . . . three books. And I already finished two of them.”

“Alice, you have a tome titled  _ Industrialization in America _ ”

“So?”

“This is the  _ Australian _ Nocturnal Academy.”

“World History isn’t irrelevant to the rest of us, sir.” I pause. “May I ask what you’re doing here at this hour?”

“I’m still scanning books from the Restricted Section into an online catalogue.”

“So I can read the Necromonicon without going insane?”

“All that contains is bad emo poetry.”

“You’re distracting me.” I gesture at my partners in apparent crime. “And you’re going to wake them up.”

“As any idiot could see, Thompson, Jorgenson, and Hightower are sleeping like the dead.”

“Millicent is dead, sir. She’s a vampire.”

He harrumphs. “Your sense of humour astounds me, Dribble.”

There’s a pause.

_ These vampires were led by Dorothea Dix, who is known by Daydwellers for prison reform. She was also responsible for _

“There used to be a rule that said students couldn’t be in the library after twelve AM.”

_ a number of education reforms in the North American Nocturnal Academy that granted females permission to take classes that were previously restricted to males. _

“Most teachers were too busy to enforce that.”

_ Most notably, she pushed for an expansion of voting rights to people regardless of race, gender, or citizenship. _

“Naturally, we got rid of it. A vast majority of students aren’t near the library after 10 AM anyway.”

“While I might not be tired enough to not read, I’m tired enough to struggle with carrying on a conversation.”

“Go to sleep, Dribble.”

“After this book.”

He glances at the book. “You’re on page eight of an eight hundred page volume.”

Eight? I could have sworn I was farther along than that. But the page number claims that he’s right. I start to say something, but settle for glaring at him.

“Breakfast is in four hours.”

“What?”

“You’ve been dozing off. Go to sleep.”

“One more chapter,  _ Dad _ .”

He chuckles. “Dribble, you’re going to fall asleep in a minute, then sleep until the bell rings.”

I can feel myself nodding off this time. He must have used mental shaping to cast a sleep spell.

“You shouldn’t be casting . . .”

The next thing I hear is the bell ringing at 7:30. Breakfast.

**Author's Note:**

> i have a list of prompts to work through. most of them will feature alice & icarus, but some other characters should worm their ways in. probably won't write any alice/andre, since i ain't to fond of andre.
> 
> are any of these prompts in the letters universe? maybe.


End file.
